Hunger in the Darkness - Expedition to the Mines of Zolurket
Game Master Mark Sweetman

For Cynara, it's more a matter of being able to see what's coming; her visual issues and lack of familiarity with the terrain are such that she doesn't want to sprint into something by accident. Feigr can see where he's going, so I don't think DMV will have any issue with him going flat out.

Padrym follows Feigr, running flat out in order to catch the leader.

I wonder if you can fly.
Female voice: Don't even try it.

Love has one more shot at a range of ~160ft

Cynara runs in the direction auditorially indicated and is heartened to realise it is the right way as Feigr and Padrym pass by her. Love's crossbow shot is wide.

Khepri's bowshot arcs high before plunging into the gnoll dealing it a grievous wound. It's pained whimpers barely carry on the breeze as it continues to stumble on and the dust fades from sight.

It has just breached the entry tunnel to the mines, a large stone braced arch wide enough to have wagon trains of goods pass each other on their way into and out of Tar-Urkatha. What appears to have once been sentry post alcoves at the side of the thoroughfare have filled with rubble and filth. A makeshift barricade of wood and stone is roughly 50ft ahead from where the gnoll stands.

The gnoll calls out loudly in a language Cynara recognizes as Undercommon.

The glitterdust will fade out at the end of this round and return the gnoll to unhindered movement. Rough distances:
0ft: reference point
20ft: Love / Khepri
90ft: Cynara
100ft: Feigr / Padrym
180ft: Fleeing Gnoll
The gnoll is just within the threshold of the mine entrance.

Damage Tracker:
Leader - 21

"He's calling to something! 'Ware shadows!"

Round 9
Screw it, this is what you came to do. Feigr continues to charge toward the entrance of the mine and the gnolls, a chorus of voices rises in his mind...calling to him...greeting, threat, or warning is not clear.
Continue full round run action and damn the torpedos

If there isn't another shot for Khepri, he'll pick up his sword and make his way to the entrance.

Khepri and Love could each take a shot - but I'd have to say he's got soft cover against them.

Let's give it a shot

Smite Ranged Attack with Comp. Longbow 1d20 + 2 + 1 + 3 - 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 + 1 + 3 - 2 = 12

Damage 1d8 + 3 + 3 ⇒ (4) + 3 + 3 = 10

Khepri took one more shot, but as he wasn't a great bowman, the angle of the shot was too much for him.

Damned fool. Well, we'll die together then.

Padrym continues to follow Feigr, trusting his longer legged companions to catch up quickly.

Seeing the other break into a gallop, Dolgrym huffs and puffs along behind them, keeping up as best he could.

Run action for Dolgrym.

Round 9:

Status:

HP: 21/21 AC: 17/19 vs. evil opponents Conditions: Blessed ( +1 to hit and on saves vs. fear); protected vs. evil (+2 to AC and saves vs. evil opponents)

Expendables used:

L1 spells: 3/6 Channel energy: 0/6 CLW wand: 3/50

Cynara, realizing that the gnoll is acting like it has hidden allies, slows up and casts a spell. Moving 30' and casting protection from evil on herself.

Love is still holding 1 x shot at ~130ft (no cover) and 1 x shot at ~160ft (with cover).
As those two shots have a reasonable chance of dropping the gnoll... I'll give him the night to take the pot-shots then advance things come morning.

THWANG!
Attack at 130 w/ light crossbow, bless, 1 range band: 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 2 ⇒ (7) + 5 + 1 - 2 = 11

*ka-CLICK*

THWANG!

And again at 160 with light cover, bless, 2 range bands: 1d20 + 5 + 1 - 4 - 2 ⇒ (3) + 5 + 1 - 4 - 2 = 3

"I shot an arrow into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For, so swiftly it flew, the sight
Could not follow it in its flight.

I breathed a song into the air,
It fell to earth, I knew not where;
For who has sight so keen and strong,
That it can follow the flight of song?

Long, long afterward, in an oak
I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end,
I found again in the heart of a friend."

The Arrow and the Song, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

edit:I am a maroon. Thanks Cynara.

Lovely poem (and quite apropos), but I believe it's by Henry *Wadsworth* Longfellow. Henry *Wordsworth* Longfellow is the author of verses such as "Lines composed a few miles under the spreading chestnut tree."

The gnoll turns to growl at the chasing dwarves before loping more confidently forward and slipping through the barricade ahead. He continues to call out to the Shadows in Undercommon as he goes, and you cannot hear any response.

Reversing the distance reference and starting at the barricade:
-10ft: Gnoll
0ft: Barricade of wood and stone (consists of two walls, which overlap, leaving a 5ft wide 'chicane' through the middle)
80ft: Feigr and Padrym
110ft: Cynara
130ft: Dolgrym
190ft: Khepri
210ft: Love
I think that's right, but please correct me if wrong

With the gnoll passing out of your direct sight and through the barricade you take a moment to realise your surroundings. You stand at the threshold of Tar-Urkatha, the mine that was lost and became known as Zolurket - the dark death. The entry arch is stoic and functional, impressive more in the quality of it's construction than any overt decoration. It has weathered the years of neglect and predation by the gnolls and other creatures without allowing the scores to sink deeply.

The barricade ahead appears to be made from scavenged material, old and partially rotted wood sitting beside re-purposed building stones. It is about 6 foot high, with clear space between it and the roof - the thoroughfare having been made wide and enough for two wagon trains to pass each other.

Since Cynara can just barely perceive Padrym and Feigr, she'll accelerate to her full running speed to catch the pair and and follow them to the barricade, or wherever they stop if they stop short of it.

Perception check to hear anything from inside the mine, if applicable: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Khepri will scoop up his sword and make his way as fast as he can to the barricade

Feigr continues to run at full tilt up to the barricade. Full run across the 80' to the barricade. As he nears the barricade he looks and listens to see if the gnoll's call has drawn any aid.
Perception 1d20 - 1 ⇒ (14) - 1 = 13

Right, DM is back in the house and ready to get you headed mine-wards :)

Feigr and Cynara cannot hear anything beyond the barricade but the echoing steps of the fleeing gnoll and his furtive cries for help.

Ok - are the advance scouts waiting for the rest to catch up or pressing on post-haste?
Also - I have Cynara, Khepri and Feigr hustling forward.
Padrym, Dolgrym and Love?

Cynara slows to keep pace with Feigr and Padrym. "I don't hear anything answering him yet; perhaps we should pause while the others catch up. I would prefer not to follow him into a trap or ambush."

Her mouth crooks in a slight smile as if something amuses her, but she says nothing more. None of you could catch me if I ran ahead, but if I set foot in this place before any of you I'd never hear the end of it.

Dolgrym tries to catch up as closely as possible to Cynara, Feigr and Khepri. His huffing and puffing doesn't yield much results, though.

Dolgym's advancing too.

Feigr slows down to wait for the rest of the group to arrive. "Was hoping we could catch him with Dolgrym's spell, but no such luck. I agree with you that we should go together. Too much chance of a trap."

Those at the barricade have about three rounds to use as they will as Khepri and Love catch up to them.

Khepri moves to catch up with the group as soon as he can, ready to pursue the fleeing gnoll and face more of them.

While waiting for the others, Feigr closes his eyes and reaches for a connection with the spirits. "Come to me brothers and sisters and tell me if any of the restless dead lurk hidden beyond this barricade." He concentrates on the area around the barricade.
Casts Detect Undead. Good for 3 minutes and he concentrates for the 3 rounds while we wait if he finds any auras.

Feigr finds no sign of immediate undead presence beyond the barricade.

Padrym shrugs his shoulders and cracks his neck. Muttering the words to an arcane spell, his form shimmers with light as a barrier settles over him. Spending another few moments in casting his hand begins to crackle with electricity before he moves towards the barricades.

Shield and Shocking Grasp then forward I go.

"Forward Magatha says, forward I go."

Home at last.

While waiting, Cynara, her voice more troubled than you've ever heard it, says, "That gnoll was speaking Undercommon, the language of the deepest places of the world. This worries me; as far as I knew, the dwarves of Tar-Urkatha never delved deep enough to reach the great caverns from which you originally came. If the darkness in this place has broken through to those ancient depths, we may face worse foes than the walking dead here."

And that will have to be reported, and quickly.

Khepri nods and tries to bolster her spirits, "That is indeed troubling. But our cause is righteous and our group here determined. We have shown our enemies we are cunning, we will not back down, and we will not accept anything short of restoring the place to its once great stature. Together, we can face anything."

Khepri hopes he eases her mind some, as they ready to pursue the gnoll.

"Let's be quick, whatever course we choose," Dolgyrm adds between deep breaths from his sprint, "...remember the other gnolls will soon be coming back to camp, and we shouldn't leave the rest of our kin alone to handle them."

Love slows as he nears the mouth of the mine.

"Were it up to me I would face what old long nose is calling to out here. Simple fact is we know this ground, we don't know what is inside. They do. But it looks like Mr.Choppy has made up his mind to take the risky route tonight."

"That gnoll was speaking Undercommon, the language of the deepest places of the world. This worries me; as far as I knew, the dwarves of Tar-Urkatha never delved deep enough to reach the great caverns from which you originally came. If the darkness in this place has broken through to those ancient depths, we may face worse foes than the walking dead here."

"And just how do you come to know that I wonder..." Love thinks as he passes a new gaze on the half-blind elf.

Padrym pushes between the barricades and into the shadowy dark of the mines. The entry passage continues for another 40 feet before opening out both sideways and vertically into the Transept proper. What can be seen so far is just collapsed rubble and filth, but there is a sense of depth to the darkness that suggests you've entered a massive void space.

Barricade seems to be more of a funneling device than anything else. Neither to keep in nor out particularly, and you'd wager a stout dwarf with an earthbreaker could render it to rubble in a lazy afternoon.
At present the caravan proper is back in the base camp. It would be a several hour round trip before you could rush them to the fortified camp - but there's the sortie that went to the Giant's hollow to deal with first...

The fleeing gnoll's footsteps have ceased to sound and his voice has gone quiet... though you do not know if it is because his calls were answered or fell on silent ears.

If you want to track him, I'll need a Survival check. Also a query for Khepri and Cynara as to what light source they go with?

"Ptah! I have no skill in tracking and see no sign of him. Fortunately, no sign of the dead either. Unless one of you has the ability to track him down, I fear we need to return to the camp and see about getting ready for the rest of the gnolls to return."

Dolgrym follows Feigr to the mouth of the mine. It felt good just to be in there, but he knew the other dwarves would need help to fend off the returning gnolls. "He escaped us this time. There's always tomorrow after we turn the gnoll camp into our camp."

"Let's secure this area before pursuing. They aren't going anywhere"

Just waiting to know if Padrym continues his charge into the dark...

Cynara nods wordlessly to Khepri, and looks away, cocking her head to listen. He means well, but he doesn't know what he's talking about facing. "Padrym, wait! We need to hold the outside before we can go too far."

Padrym hesitates, leaning forward into the face of the mine.

We must wait.
Female voice: I have waited too long.
The others are not ready, and we cannot win alone.

Although torn, Padrym takes a slow step back from the entrance, the muscles of his arm visibly shaking.

The party makes it's way back out of the mine to the gnoll's camp where Gaelthrin and the other dwarves await you. They have already begun to drag the bodies to one side and are going through the tents ensuring all are dead. The dour looks on your faces betray the outcome of your chase.

She sighs, but regains her composure quickly - barking "Gorth, take three and watch the mine." and a bald swarthy dwarf nods and does so. Turning back to you "We'll clean up outside... you want to handle what's left of the fort?"

Cynara has regained her composure, and nods to Gaelthrin. "I think we have some time to spare before the others return." She turns to the quartet of dwarves and the paladin. "Lead the way, if you would? Oh--is anyone wounded?"

..."We'll clean up outside... you want to handle what's left of the fort?"

"Aye. We can do that. I think Mr.Choppy here could stand burning off some more nerves." Love turns to head for the fort. "Oh, I almost forgot." Love removes two thick leather sacks from one of the side pouches of his pack. "You might have use of these as you prepare the welcome for the rest of the pack." The sacks contain one use of caltrops each.

Describe what is left of the fort please. Skills if they matter. Perception 1d20 + 11 ⇒ (4) + 11 = 15 add 1 more to see traps and 2 more for odd stonework. Kn. dungeoneering 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (11) + 7 = 18. Is this fort a better place to meet the returning party than at the odd barricade?

The fort itself is crumbling and dilapidated. The fact is stands at all is a testament to dwarven construction. The remaining walls are stout, but with the damage there is likely only a single watchtower is intact enough to serve as a lookout / sniper's post.

The main entrance is near to you, where the gnoll leader emerged from. It looks to be a remnant of an internal rather than external door - but is screened by hanging furs preventing you from looking within. Nothing of the stone alarms your concern, and it does not look like the gnolls have worked the rock in any way.

Looks like this in terms of general stonework and upkeep

The barricade isn't a great spot - as it puts your backs to the unexplored mines and is reasonably distant from the fort. Also you'd be screened off from seeing the returned gnolls arrive at the fort.
Holing up at the fort and camp you can keep a good eye in both directions. Also has less risk of being sandwhiched between gnolls and whatever is within the mines.

Fort seems like the best choice for now.

"I agree with holding the Fort section Khepri. Anyone want to set up in the tower or should we have one of the other dwarves do it? I'm afraid ranged weapons are not my forte."

"We may be getting a bit ahead of ourselves; I, for one, don't know what might be inside the fort right now, and I'd prefer we investigate quickly before the other gnolls return."

"Bright eyes wins the cigar or coconut depending on her fancy. Who knows what lurks within?" Love begins to slink towards the tower. [b]"Count to twenty and follow."

Stealth is +8 if you need that info. Sneaking to the door furs and listening perception for this is +11. If i don't hear anything threatening Love will slip inside trying to be as quiet as a mouse living in a snakehandeling church.

"Again I agree with the elf. I say we take a quick look, and prepare to deal with the returning gnolls. We can always come back tomorrow and give this place a proper once over."

Love moves to the entrance and finds no reason for abject pause as of yet. Slipping through the curtain you are assailed by the stench of gnoll inhabitance, though remain unassaulted by anything living. The entry chamber just has a few cots for sleeping and a firepit in one corner that is littered with refuse. The other rooms on the ground floor are much the same and uninhabited. At a guess you'd wager the leader must have resided on the upper floor.

Not much of explicit interest on the lower floor - as that's where the rank and file resided.

The sole staircase that provides access above leads to a second room that is screened by hyena furs. Stepping within you find breakfast fast approaching a second appearance into your mouth. You stand in a desecrated space that is devoted to the mother of monsters herself - Lamashtu. Blood daubed drawings are on the walls and the half eviscerated corpse of a jackal lies in the center of the room. Totems with various body parts and preserved skeletons abound... and Love can see some relics that must have come from within the mines - a variety of dwarven made tooling, as well as a finely made hammer.

The hammer is covered in dried blood and gore - and would need some elbow grease to clean off sufficient to get a good look at it and the runic lettering on it's surface.

Branching off from the shrine are two rooms - though it looks as though the one to the left sees more traffic than the other.

Padrym moves up in support of the group, the edges of his arcane shield crackling as he moves and his axe gripped before him.

Cynara follows the cracksdwarf with the rest of the party, after silently counting to twenty. The spectacle of the shrine takes her somewhat aback, but as an experienced healer she's seen her share of gore and she's able to keep her breakfast down. She tsks quietly and murmurs, "This will never do."